You are standing in an open field west of a white house:
technica q&a: chris mooney (the republican war on science)
technica q&a: garth sundem (geek logik)
technica q&a: mark jason dominus (higher-order perl)
alternative construction
the human experiment by jane ponyter
art institute of portland
history of science
new arrivals
doug brown's factoid
bestsellers

September is a bittersweet month of new school clothes and fresh starts. Come by the Tech store to see our new look for the year. Fresh paint is everywhere, with new, snazzy displays and a cafe area inspired by The Jetsons. Just in time for class, we have a wonderful assortment of globes to pore over. We are not afraid to be the teacher's pet.

TECHNICA Q&A: CHRIS MOONEY
The Republican War on Science, new in paperback, is a meticulous, finely crafted book on how science has been affected by the partisan politics of the conservative Republican right and George W. Bush. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Chris Mooney asks hard questions. Are Republicans pleasing their base by refuting hard science which supports "liberal" causes like global warming, the Endangered Species Act, and stem cell research? Save 30% on The Republican War on Science, and be sure to stop by for Mooney's book signing at Powell's Technical Books on September 13 at 7 p.m.

TECHNICA Q&A: GARTH SUNDEM
Garth Sundem's new book, Geek Logik: Fifty Foolproof Equations for Everyday Life, is an amusing look at life from a quirky statistician's perspective. Assign variables to certain questions, and you have your answer. "Should I get a tattoo? Can I get away with calling in sick today? How many beers should I drink at the company party?" Sundem is an engaging, funny writer who's not afraid of his inner geek. And Geek Logik even comes with a pocket calculator so that you can figure out if you want to buy the book. We think you probably will, especially since you'll be saving 30% off the cover price.

TECHNICA Q&A: MARK JASON DOMINUS
Author Mark Jason Dominus takes a new approach to programming Perl in his bestselling book Higher-Order Perl. Many Perl programmers have early training in C and Unix programming, and this shows in their code. But Perl has advanced features that have their roots in other languages such as Lisp. With these features, you can use functional programming techniques that make your Perl programming extremely powerful and efficient. This, combined with Dominus's lucid and witty writing, makes Higher-Order Perl an invaluable addition to your programming library. Read more in our Tech Q&A and save 30%.

ALTERNATIVE CONSTRUCTION
Real estate markets across the country are quickly becoming unaffordable for those of us who subscribe to the ethos of simple living. If you have a bit of land to spare, why not build your own house? There are alternatives to the "air-conditioned nightmares" of drywall and cheap siding out there. Stop spending money at big-box stores and do it yourself! We have a fantastic selection of books on straw bale and cob houses, and alternative ways to live. Someone has to be the first on their block to break out of the suburban house pattern. Why not you?

On September 4, 1888, George Eastman patented the first roll-film camera and registers the name "Kodak." Millions of snapshots later, Paul Simon laments, "Mama, don't take my Kodachrome away."

THE HUMAN EXPERIMENT BY JANE POYNTER
Do you remember the Biosphere project? Back in 1991, eight people voluntarily went into a hermetically sealed biosphere environment for two years. What happened to them? Biosphere 2 was built to simulate a space station on Mars and to study how humans could live in a totally self-enclosed world for two years. Nothing went in, nothing went out. In her new book, The Human Experiment: Two Years and Twenty Minutes inside Biosphere 2, author Jane Poynter gives us the dirt on what really happened: food became scarce, oxygen levels dropped, people were hungry all the time, and she lost part of a finger in a threshing accident. The Human Experiment is a fascinating read from an insider's perspective of Biosphere 2.

ART INSTITUTE OF PORTLAND: TEXTBOOKS
Attention students at the Art Institute of Portland: you can now pick up your textbooks at Powell's Technical Bookstore. It's as easy as bringing in your syllabus. As always, you can also order them online, using our handy search box to enter all your ISBNs at once.

HISTORY OF SCIENCE
On September 7, 1927, Philo Farnworth demonstrates the first use of television. His electronic tinkerings were copied by Russian scientist Vladimir Zworykin at RCA, who eventually developed what we all know as TV today. Zworykin was once quoted as saying, "I hate what they've done to my child...I would never let my own children watch it."

NEW ARRIVALS
Chris Balish's How to Live Well without Owning a Car is a refreshing, positive tale about the commuter that could. Amir Aczel's new book, The Artist and the Mathematician, tells the story of Nicolas Bourbaki, who is actually the nom de plume of a group of French mathematicians who wanted to publish their work collectively. And Brian Clegg's The God Effect: Quantum Entanglement, Science's Strangest Phenomenon discusses the intriguing notion of quantum entanglement and its amazing possible ramifications for our future.

DOUG BROWN'S HOPS FACTOID
When you sniff a pint of India Pale Ale, you notice a strong bitter floral scent.  This is due to a chemical called humulone, which is found in resins from blossoms on female hop plants, and gives beers and ales their bitter edge.   When exposed to sunlight, humulone breaks down into 3-methylbutane-1-thiol: the primary chemical that skunks produce in their scent glands.  Beer is kept in dark bottles to slow this process, but nonetheless old beer often smells "skunky."  Beers kept in clear bottles have such a low hop content that this process is negligible (but then, these beers also usually have a flavor content that is negligible).

TECH BESTSELLERS
1. Pocket Reference by Thomas J. Glover
2. Ugly's Electrical References 2005 by George Hart
3. Ajax Design Patterns by Michael Mahemoff
4. Creating a Web Page with HTML by Elizabeth Castro
5. 2003 International Building Code by ICC
6. Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual by David Pogue
7. Programming C# 4th Edition by Jesse Liberty
8. Mini House by Alejandro Bahamon
9. Adobe Photoshop CS2 for the Web Hands-On Training by Tanya Staples
10. The Official Ubuntu Book by Benjamin Mako Hill

Technica
By Carole

Copyright 2006 Powells.com